Lightweight caps are very popular for casual wear, and such caps usually include adjustable headbands, a crown, and a prominent visor. Advertising or other indicia is often imprinted, embossed, or otherwise applied to the front of the crown of the cap, above the visor. As such caps are frequently worn while working, engaging in sports or other physical activity, or in other situations where the wearer's hands may become dirty, grasping the visor to remove or adjust the cap results in the visor rapidly becoming soiled and unattractive.
Previously, devices for protecting cap visors have been proposed. According to one known cap protector design, a flexible element is positioned over the front edge of the visor of the cap, and held in place using elastic cords that are anchored to the side edges of the visor. While such protectors are effective, a tight, smooth fit of the protector with respect to the visor of the cap may be difficult to achieve. For instance, when the visor of the cap is bent in a traditional “U-shape” form, the flexible element on the underside of the visor will often sag, thereby obstructing the wearer's vision.
According to another known cap protector design, a substantially rigid, u-shaped metal body is placed over the front edge of the visor of the cap to maintain the shape of the visor. While this device device also performs its intended purpose, it is relatively heavy, and cannot be easily adapted to cap visors having varied or unusual curvatures.
In light of the foregoing, it would be desirable to have a cap visor protector that is simple in construction, maintains a firm attachment to the visor of the cap, is lightweight in construction, and may be cleaned easily. It would also be desirable to have a cap visor protector that may be readily applied to existing visored caps without requiring unusual skills. In addition, it would be desirable to have a cap visor protector that adds to the aesthetic appearance of the cap and visor, as the cap visor protector may be formed of leather, felt, or a wide variety of materials of any color. It would also be desirable to have a cap visor protector that may be economically manufactured, is capable of having indicia or advertising located thereon, and is readily adjustable and usable with a wide variety of visor shapes, dimensions, and configurations.